The Biotechnology Innovation Organization’s CEO John Crowley isn’t shying away from the tough tasks. With only a little more than three months at the helm of the world’s largest biotech advocacy group, the leader has already implemented a wide-scale restructure and taken a firm stance with Congress regarding U.S. biosecurity.
“I'm just past day 100,” John Crowley told Fierce Biotech in an interview at the Portal Innovations & Chan Zuckerberg BioHub Chicago. “It’s been busy—you want to come into any new position with a sense of urgency that reflects the importance of the mission.”
The rare disease advocate and biotech founder stepped into the top role in early March, taking the reins from former interim CEO Rachel King. Crowley has also been a member of BIO’s board for more than a decade.
“From the time I was named in early December to take the position, I had about 90 days to digest more of where BIO is,” the CEO said, detailing his time traveling across the U.S. to meet with more than 100 biotech CEOs, plus talking with senior team and board members to pull together a vision for the organization.
“I think in some ways, BIO was trying to do too many things for too many of our constituents,” Crowley said, outlining a new plan designed to allow the organization to instead “go deeper” in several areas.
The R3 project
Immediately upon starting, Crowley launched a “pretty significant restructure.”
“We called it R3 project—our reorganization, restructure, reimagination of BIO,” the CEO explained.
The restructure wasn’t rooted in any financial distress, Crowley emphasized, adding, that the company has “never had more money in the bank.”
The redesign is tooled to give leaders more resources, Crowley said, though the restructure led to the departure of 30 people, including BIO’s chief policy officer, chief science officer, and chief public affairs and marketing officer.
“Because of the financial strength, we were able to provide each of them with very, very competitive severance,” Crowley said. “Every one of them [has] contributed immensely to the organization, some for many, many years, and they’ll each find great new opportunities.”
BIO now has eight “centers of excellence” whose leaders report directly to Crowley. Among the changes was the promotion of Phyllis Arthur, BIO’s former VP of infectious disease and diagnostics policy, who now has the title of senior VP for healthcare policies and programs. Crowley also elevated the federal government affairs function and its leader Aiken Hackett, who is now a senior VP.
The moves were made to give leaders more responsibility and room to grow, the CEO said, adding that the organization is currently recruiting.
Crowley has set out seven key tenets to guide the organization: boost biotech-driven innovation; break down barriers to accessing medicine; use the power of storytelling to highlight the importance of biotech; focus on patients, caregivers and families; biotech as a national security imperative; expand and engage BIO members and stakeholders; and understanding biotech’s role in food security and climate impact.
Crowley, who is known for his entrepreneurship in the industry after his two youngest children were diagnosed with Pompe disease, underscored the patient-centric mindset.
“That's going to be a key part of what you'll see for BIO,” he said. “[Being] both the convener and also the thought leader in patient advocacy.”
The organization’s focus on national security has also drawn quite a bit of chatter.
“The world is a better and healthier place with strong leadership in U.S.-based biotechnology,” the leader said, adding that biotech is a core part of the nation’s infrastructure.
Back in March, BIO shared its public support of the BIOSECURE Act, draft legislation that proposes banning federal agencies from directly or indirectly procuring any “biotechnology equipment or service” provided by a named company of concern. So far, the bill has mainly focused on Chinese biopharma service and equipment providers, such as WuXi Biologics and WuXi AppTec.
The latter, CDMO giant WuXi AppTec, exited BIO after the organization backed the proposed legislation.
“That was mutual, based on conversations I had with their CEO, that it would be in their interest, in the organization’s interest, for them to leave,” Crowley explained.
The tension surrounding the discussion comes from concern that biomedical research could be unnecessarily interrupted, Crowley said.
“Ultimately, maybe that's the greatest impact of BIOSECURE, is the wake-up call and the realization that we have lost control of the biomanufacturing supply chain in the United States,” the CEO said. “It puts at risk the public health and we need to redomicile key parts of the supply chain here.”
China biomedical research and manufacturing services are highly interwoven into the U.S. biotech scene. Because of this, BIO said the industry needs eight years before fully decoupling from China-based manufacturers to ensure patient safety, according to Crowley. An updated version of the legislation did exactly that, giving U.S. companies until 2032 to sever ties with specific China-based companies.
“That just shows the credibility and the influence that BIO has in advancing the interest, ultimately, of patients,” Crowley said.
Companies leaving—and joining—BIO
While the trade organization currently boasts more than 1,000 member companies, several big names beyond WuXi AppTec have recently parted ways with BIO.
Since December 2023, Pfizer, UCB and Takeda Pharmaceuticals have all pulled their memberships from the prominent industry lobbying group. While companies regularly reassess memberships and annual fees, the proximity of several Big Pharmas exiting is difficult to ignore.
“I hope they’ll come back to BIO,” Crowley said about the three companies. “We've seen great stability now in our membership.”
The CEO said the organization is expecting several new, unnamed companies to be joining BIO in the second half of this year.